Titanic Entrepreneur Palmer Says His Party Is Worry for Abbott

“Our current lot of politicians hasn’t done too good,” said Clive Palmer, founder and chairman of Mineralogy Pty. “Their view is they have to tax more and screw the economy down. My view is you’ve got to expand it more and give people more opportunities.” Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

April 29 (Bloomberg) -- Australian entrepreneur Clive
Palmer said opposition leader Tony Abbott, who is leading in
polls ahead of the Sept. 14 election, should be worried that
conservative voters will be wooed to his new political party.

“I can understand his concern because his performance
hasn’t been what it could be as opposition leader,” Palmer, who
is planning to build a replica of the Titanic, said in a
Bloomberg Television interview in Sydney today. “He hasn’t
provided the leadership necessary to get this economy moving
again.”

The owner of mining company Mineralogy Pty is restarting
the United Australia Party, the precursor of the main Liberal
Party, to contest 150 seats in the federal election. He may
divert support from Abbott’s Liberal-National coalition which
has led in opinion polls against Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s
minority Labor government for more than 18 months.

At least two sitting members of parliament will switch to
his party before the election, Palmer told reporters in Sydney
earlier today, declining to name them.

“Our current lot of politicians hasn’t done too good,”
Palmer said. “Their view is they have to tax more and screw the
economy down. My view is you’ve got to expand it more and give
people more opportunities.”

Australia’s manufacturing sector has been hurt by the
strength of the Aussie dollar, which has averaged about $1 in
the past three years, the strongest performance since the early
1980s. General Motors Co.’s Holden unit said this month it will
cut about 500 jobs in Australia, citing the local dollar’s
strength and currency devaluations in competing markets.

Unemployment Climbs

The nation’s unemployment rate climbed to 5.6 percent in
March from 5.4 percent the previous month, marking the highest
level since November 2009.

“I’m very confident the people of Australia are very savvy
and are going to vote for the people who are serious, who have
done the work, and can deliver stable, competent and trustworthy
government,” Abbott said at an April 26 news conference after
Palmer announced he was launching his party.

Palmer, 59, and mining billionaires Gina Rinehart and
Andrew Forrest drew criticism last year from Treasurer Wayne
Swan who said they were threatening the nation’s democratic
process by using their wealth to seek to shape policy. Palmer
last year dropped plans to contest Swan’s seat in the federal
election.

Palmer has an agreement with Nanjing-based CSC Jinling
Shipyard to build a 21st-century replica of the Titanic. CSC
Jinling is also building four 64,000 deadweight tonne bulk
carriers for the mining entrepreneur, whose investments also
include golf courses, hotels, a soccer team and a horse stud.

The Titanic II, scheduled to sail from England to New York
on its maiden voyage by the end of 2016, will likely cost at
least $500 million, Greg Johnson, an analyst with Shore Capital
Group in London, said last year. The original RMS Titanic, whose
popularity was underscored by the 1997 James Cameron movie that
won 11 Academy Awards, sank on its maiden voyage in 1912 after
colliding with an iceberg. The sinking caused the deaths of
1,502 people.